


The Pidgeon Phenomenon

by Semper_Sehun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Time Meeting, Fluff, M/M, chanbaek taking care of a kid, college students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 11:31:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18051713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semper_Sehun/pseuds/Semper_Sehun
Summary: "Hey, I found this child and I literally have no clue how to deal with children. Can you help me?"When Baekhyun finds a lost child in front of the park, he's happy to find Chanyeol who just happens to be really talented at dealing with small children





	The Pidgeon Phenomenon

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Chanbaek Aqua Fic Fest Prompt. I don't usually write just fluff but it was a nice change. I hope you enjoy reading it!
> 
> Alternative titles to this cause I fucking suck at titles: Error 404: Title Not Found, How not to adult: chanbaek edition (thanks Chris), The Pidgeon Prodigy...

_ "Hey, I found this child and I literally have no clue how to deal with children. Can you help me?" _

\---

Baekhyun wasn't exactly sure how it even happened. Suddenly, a small boy with teary eyes was tugging on his sleeve, blinking up at him with the most heart-wrecking expression he'd ever seen and Baekhyun instantly felt touched.

"Mister, have you seen my mommy? I don't know where my mommy is?" The little boy sniffed. While Baekhyun had no real reference, he assumed that the boy was not older than 6 at most and apparently, he’d lost his mom in the busy streets of Seoul. That definitely wasn’t good at all.

"Uh... What does your mommy look like?" Baekhyun scratched his head awkwardly. Was he supposed to bend down when talking to the little boy? Figuring that it couldn’t hurt, he squatted down next to the still crying boy so that they were on eye level.

"She looks... Nice. Like my mommy."

Well, Baekhyun couldn’t do much with that information.

"Yeah okay, makes sense. Well, where did you last see your mommy?" He asked, looking around the area in case he spotted a potentially upset or hectic looking woman who was searching for her kid. However, nobody seemed even mildly interested in them.

Sniffing again, the little boy blinked a few times, new tears rolling down his rosy cheeks. Baekhyun had to admit that he was kind of adorable, even though he’d prefer if he weren’t crying. "We were at the park and then I saw this cute bird and followed it. But when the bird flew away, mommy wasn't there."

Birds could be distracting, Baekhyun had to give him that. Still, that didn’t really help him much in finding the boys mom. He needed more information.

"Hm, alright. And did you go back to where you last saw her?" Baekhyun asked while he began rummaging in his backpack to hopefully find some tissues that he could offer the little boy. There was a bit of snot running from his nose and Baekhyun figured he’d appreciate it.

"I couldn't find the way back. I'm so scared." The boy mumbled, his voice a little shaky. It made Baekhyun’s heart ache just the tiniest bit.

"I want to see my mommy." Another wave of tears broke out of the boy and Baekhyun just wanted to hug him but at the same time, he felt way too awkward to do that.

"Well, fu- fudge, I guess I'll help you find your mommy now." He promised, not entirely sure how he was going to go about that though. "Hey, it's okay, don't cry. We'll find your mommy." By now, Baekhyun had managed to produce a packet of tissues out of his backpack and started softly dabbing it under the little boys eyes when he didn’t show any signs of grabbing the tissue when Baekhyun offered. "Please don't cry, it'll be okay."

After about a minute the boy had not stopped crying, Baekhyun decided that he needed help. People were beginning to stare already and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do so in the heat of the moment, he took the little boys hand and told him they’d find someone that would help them and then they’d look for his mom.                                      

And that's how Baekhyun ended up approaching the handsome stranger that was waiting at the bus station. He wasn't even sure why he chose him, maybe it had to do with how sexy the guy looked with his sleeves rolled up, but Baekhyun had to concentrate on more important matters at the moment.

"Um, sorry, what did you say?" The handsome stranger pulled out his headphones and gave Baekhyun and the still crying little boy on his hand a confused look.

"I was wondering if you could maybe help me find this little boy's mom. Can you help me? I have no idea how to deal with children and you're the only person that didn't awkwardly turn their head away when I started walking towards them." That had probably been mainly due to the man not even noticing him approaching but Baekhyun tried to ignore that for the sake up not crushing his hopes of getting help right away and sent the stranger a forced smile.

"Oh shi- I mean shoot.” Chanyeol sent a quick glance at the little boy that was clinging to Baekhyun’s hand. “That sucks, man. What's your name, little guy?" The man squatted down in front of the little boy much like Baekhyun had earlier and Baekhyun had the feeling that he’d chosen the right guy to ask for help.

"I'm Minjun." The little boy, Minjun, answered and Baekhyun kind of wanted to slap himself for not having asked that earlier. Sometimes he really wondered how he’d even survived in society for 24 years already.

The man on the ground next to him seemed to be pretty sure about what he was doing though. "That's a really nice name, Minjun. How old are you?" He asked, sending a heart-warming smile at the little boy.

"I'm five.” Minjun mumbled, and Baekhyun was quite proud of himself that he’d almost gotten the age right.

The other man was still smiling too. Baekhyun began to wonder if he worked with kids or something like that, he seemed to have a rather calming effect on Minjun. "Wow, you're such a grown-up boy already, you don't have to cry. We'll find your mommy, okay?"

"How are you so good at this?" Baekhyun couldn’t help but blurt out.

"Huh?" The man looked up at him and it seemed like he’d already forgotten about Baekhyun’s existence entirely as he’d been too focused on the little boy.

Baekhyun stared right back. "How are you so good at talking to him. He literally stopped crying like the moment you started talking."

"Uh... I guess I have that effect on children." The guy just shrugged.

With a roll of his eyes, Baekhyun had to laugh. "No kidding. Thanks for helping me, by the way. I'm Baekhyun."

The man in front of him straightened up and suddenly he was a lot taller than him again. He hadn’t noticed the stranger’s height before, but damn he was tall. Baekhyun actually had to look up to meet his eyes.

"I'm Chanyeol, nice to meet you." A warm smile greeted him and shit, the guy was actually pretty handsome too!

Clearing his throat, Baekhyun attempted to focus on the important things again, like finding a little boys mom and not thirsting after an attractive stranger that was good with kids. "Nice to meet you too, Chanyeol. And now, let's go find Minjun's mommy, cause as much as I'm useless with children, I can't stand to see them cry." By now, the little boy had stopped crying but his eyes were red and puffy.

"I know, it just breaks my heart too." A hint of sadness flashed in Chanyeol’s eyes. "Hey, Minjun. Where did you last see your mom?" He reached for the little boy’s hand.

"At the park..." Minjun mumbled and slipped his tiny hand into Chanyeol’s larger palm. Probably even Baekhyun’s hand would look small compared to Chanyeol’s, he realized just now.

"Can you show us? Or tell us where that was? What were you doing in the park?”

Looking deep in thought for a moment, Minjun’s eyes suddenly widened. "I played on the playground!"

A satisfied expression began to spread on Chanyeol’s face. "Was that where you last saw your mommy?"

"Yes!" The little boy nodded energetically.

Now that they had some information they could work with, Chanyeol turned his focus towards Baekhyun again. "Okay, I know where the playground is. Let's go there first and see if she's there. Even if she isn't, the parents might know her or at least can tell us more about what she looks like and where she might have went. She's probably at least as devastated as Minjun, probably more."

The fact that the guy was taking matters into his own hands sent a wave of relief through Baekhyun. Being responsible for a little child wasn’t something he did on a daily basis and it was good to have somebody with him that seemed to know what he was doing. "Man, I'm so glad I talked you. You really got this down. Do you rescue small children regularly or something?"

A laugh escaped Chanyeol as he steered the three of them towards the entrance of the park next to the bus station where Baekhyun had first addressed him. "Uh, not really. But my cousin has children and I sometimes look after them when she needs me to. I like them, children are cute."

That explained a lot. "If they're not crying, yeah, they might be." Truthfully, Baekhyun felt pretty neutral about children. In general, he thought they were adorable and cute but every time he was supposed to interact with them, he just felt awkward. Therefore, he usually attempted to coo over them from a distance, if at all. One time he’d attempted to babysit as well but the child had ended up having to use the toilet. However, instead of telling Baekhyun just that it had pooped into the bushes on the playground because the kid refused to talk to him for the entire duration of their stay there.

When Baekhyun glanced over at Chanyeol again, he realized that the other was grinning widely.

"Oh come on, you'd be crying too if you couldn't find your mom and got lost." Chanyeol looked over at him and their eyes met and maybe Baekhyun’s heart skipped a beat. That guy really was kind of cute, he hadn’t expected that.

"I'm just kidding." Baekhyun quickly said. Maybe he should care a little more about what image he was creating of himself in front of Chanyeol. Just when he was about to add something to that, Minjun spoke up.

"I need to pee."

Two pairs of eyes immediately fell onto the little boy that was staring up at them. He’d stopped crying and was clinging to Chanyeol’s hand, looking rather lost.

"Well, uh... Is it urgent?" Baekhyun dared to ask.

Nodding energetically, Minjun tugged on Chanyeol’s hand softly. "Yes!"

Well, there went their plan to head to the playground to look for his mom as quickly as possible. "Okay- so, should we just go to a cafe then? He can use the toilet there." Sending a quick glance at Chanyeol, Baekhyun saw him nodding.

"That's probably a good idea."

Five minutes later, they’d managed to find a small café where they could use the toilet. Upon entering the room, Minjun headed straight towards the stalls but stopped right in front of the first one, looking at the two expectantly.

"You need to help me."

_ Nope. _ "You need to help him." Instantly, Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and then pointed at the little boy.

Without a word of complaint, Chanyeol just let out a sigh but headed towards Minjun. After the door had locked behind the two, Baekhyun only heard a soft. "Okay, okay. Let's do this."

By the time they’d left the café again, Minjun looked a lot more relaxed. He was holding onto Chanyeol’s hand again, waiting patiently between them as they stood at the traffic light that was about to turn to green.

When the light turned green, Chanyeol made sure to look again that no car was driving before he stepped onto the street with Minjun in tow. Baekhyun was kind of amazed.

"I'm so glad I found you and that you're doing this, I have no clue what I'm doing." He told the other while they crossed the street.

"It's okay. If you don't have much contact to young children, how are you supposed to know how stuff like this works?" Chanyeol pointed out.

"Exactly!" It was good to hear that Chanyeol didn’t think he was completely useless for no reason at all. It was just that Baekhyun had literally no experience with children at all. Maybe he should tell his brother to finally have a baby with his girlfriend, that way he could get some practice.

Reaching the gates of the park, the group stopped in front of the entrance for a moment to check the map again for the playground because Chanyeol wasn’t sure if there was more than one in the park since it was quite big. However, they only found one and decided to just go for it. On the way there, Minjun suddenly stopped walking which led to Chanyeol almost tripping over him.

"Are we going to look for my mommy now?"

A soft smile appeared on Chanyeol’s face. "Yes, cutie. We'll find your mommy."

"Okay..." Minjun didn’t sound fully convinced but Baekhyun liked to think there was hope in his voice. The boy was just way too adorable for his own good and he really hoped they’d find his mother soon. Only thinking about how she had to feel made him a little nauseous. That woman had to be living through a nightmare right now and they were the ones that could put an end to it. Without noticing, Baekhyun’s steps picked up a little.

"We'll go to the playground now, that's where you last saw her, right?" Chanyeol’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The tall man had picked up Minjun so they could walk faster and Baekhyun couldn’t help but think that Chanyeol looked quite adorable with a little child in his arms. He definitely seemed to be the type to be just naturally be comfortable around children and Baekhyun couldn’t say he wasn’t a little jealous.

The only reply to Chanyeol’s question was a small nod from Minjun who proceeded to rest his cheek against Chanyeol’s shoulder.

As they started to walk again, Chanyeol’s eyes met Baekhyun’s as he spoke to Minjun in a calming voice. "Alright, I'm sure we'll find her there."

Apparently, the walk to the playground was a little longer than they’d anticipated and Baekhyun began to wonder how long the little boy had been separated from his mom already. This definitely wasn’t good at all.

During the walk, awkward silence had filled the space between them. Therefore, Baekhyun tried to come up with a topic that would create some potential to strike up a proper conversation.

"So do you do babysitting for your cousin then?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Chanyeol turned his head to fixate Baekhyun. "Yeah, pretty much. Only I'm not getting paid though cause my mom says I can't charge family."

Baekhyun snorted. "That kinda sucks."

"It's okay, the children are low-maintenance and kinda cute." Chanyeol sent him a smile and Baekhyun had to stop himself from saying  _ "You're cute." _

Instead, Baekhyun stuck to the safer option. "That's really nice of you though. And as you can see, it's good to have experience with things like that or you'll end up like me. Which is not rather desirable."

If he wasn’t imagining it, there was an actual blush on Chanyeol’s cheeks as he spoke. "You have other qualities, I'm sure."

_ 'If you mean playing League of Legends until four a.m. then yes.'  _ Baekhyun thought to himself but didn’t voice it out loud for obvious reasons.

"I'm pretty good at singing." He decided to provide.

"Really?" Chanyeol seemed actually impressed by that. "You should sing for Minjun. Kids love that. Maybe it'll cheer him up."

Now that wasn’t really how he’d hoped this would go.

"Really?" He asked, even though Baekhyun knew the answer already.

"Of course. It's worth a try. Do you know any songs for children?"

"I don't think so.” It wouldn’t surprise Baekhyun if Chanyeol did though.

As expected, the other man didn’t disappoint. "Okay, how about...?" He looked down at the little boy in his arms that looked pretty cosy there. "Hey Minjun, do you know Gwiyomi?"

"I think so..." The little boy looked up at Chanyeol first but then turned his heads towards Baekhyun when Chanyeol told the little boy "Awesome, Baekhyun will sing it for you." with a mischievous look on his face.

"I'll what?" Baekhyun asked with wide eyes but when he caught the look in Chanyeol’s eyes, he couldn’t really say no anymore. "Yes, yes, okay." He gave in, although not without sending Chanyeol a pout that the other just quietly laughed at.

After a painfully long minute of performing the gwiyomi song for Minjun which definitely didn’t showcase any of his singing abilities at all, Baekhyun finished with a satisfied expression on his face when he realized that not only the little boy but also Chanyeol were staring at him.

"You were surprisingly good at that but I’m somehow not shocked by that revelation.” Chanyeol commented and Baekhyun wasn’t quite sure if the other meant that in a positive or negative way. While he hadn’t felt embarrassed during the song, his cheeks now began to colour and Baekhyun searched for something that could serve as a distraction.

“There's the playground already." To his relief, they’d just turned around a corner that revealed the large playground in front of them. As always, it was considerably crowded. Numerous children were playing with each other while their parents chatted, although keeping an eye on them at the same time.

"Minjun, is your mom here?" Chanyeol’s deep voice pulled Baekhyun out of his thoughts.

The little boy was still in Chanyeol’s arms but even as they walked closer to the playground, it didn’t look like the little boy recognized anybody.

To say that Baekhyun felt pretty discouraged was an understatement. "Judging by the fact that no absolutely wrecked woman is running towards us, I'd assume she's not."

As if to confirm Baekhyun’s words, Minjun piped up. "I can't see my mommy."

Chanyeol wasn’t ready to give up just yet though. "Do you know anyone else here?" He asked the little boy, hoisting him a little higher. By now, Baekhyun was seriously impressed how long the other was able to carry the little boy. He had to have some pretty nice biceps then… However, there was no time to drool over possibly very nicely shaped arms, Baekhyun pulled himself out of his thoughts just to hear Chanyeol ask Minjun "Do you recognize any of the children? Are some of them your friends?"

The little boy wasn’t very cooperative though. "I want to see my mommy."

Honestly, Baekhyun couldn’t blame him but it wasn’t making it any easier for them either. The last thing Baekhyun wanted right now was for the little boy to start crying again and his voice had already sounded dangerously whiny.

Therefore, Baekhyun had to intervene. "We'll find her! Please don't cry, it'll be okay."

Nodding energetically, Chanyeol let down the little boy to the ground when he started to struggle against his hold. Turning back to Baekhyun, Chanyeol heaved a sigh but then smiled at him. "Let's ask some of the parents, they might know something."

"Good idea."

To their disappointment, none of the parents had heard of a mother that was looking for her child. There’d only been one father that remembered seeing Minjun on the playground because he’d played with his son, but they’d left to get ice cream for a while and had only returned a few minutes ago so he hadn’t heard of any lost children just yet.

Just when they were about to give up, they spotted a woman on a bench neither of the two had approached yet. With Minjun between them, both holding onto one of his hands because he’d insisted them to do so, they stopped in front of the woman that had already watched them come closer.

"Excuse me, have you seen this boy's mother? He approached me and said that he got lost and last saw her on this playground. Is there a chance you saw them together?" Baekhyun politely asked the woman. Their chances of getting any interesting information was pretty low so neither Chanyeol nor him expected too much.

However, the woman’s reply actually took them by surprise.

"Actually, I think I do. I remember a woman asking me if I saw her son. Her description of him matches him too. I think she said something about going to the lake because she assumed he'd wandered off there to look at the birds."

Exchanging quick glances, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were certain that the woman was talking about Minjun’s mom. "Okay, that's great, thank you!" Chanyeol thanked her and then led them into the opposite direction of where they’d come from and Baekhyun and Minjun just kind of followed along until Baekhyun dared to ask where they were headed.

"I know where that lake is. It's more like a pond though. Let's go there." Chanyeol explained as they walked.

By now, Baekhyun wasn’t sure if they should go to the police instead of looking for Minjun’s mom on their own, but he figured that checking out the lake area wouldn’t hurt. Afterwards, they could still go to the police and there was a slight chance that Minjun’s mom was there after all.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the lake either. Once they’d reached the path that led around the lake, Baekhyun wasn’t sure where to start. Even though the lake wasn’t particularly large, there was a lot of area for them to cover if they wanted to check everywhere.

"Should we like, split up?" Chanyeol asked when he caught sight of the uncertainty on Baekhyun’s face.

Initially, Baekhyun knew he should be happy that Chanyeol was taking the initiative. However, splitting up didn’t sound like the best idea for some reason. He just somehow had that gut feeling like when they’d split up, something would go wrong. "Um... I mean we could, but..." He trailed off, hoping that Chanyeol would get the hint.

"It's alright, we don't have to!" The taller man instantly replied.

Relieved, Baekhyun sent him a smile. "Okay, good. Let's head to the lake."

For a while, everything seemed to go well until suddenly everything went to shit from one minute to the other.

"Shit, where the fuck is Minjun?"

Baekhyun was looking around frantically, his eyes searching the beachy area around the lake before he glanced to the trees on their left.

Yet, the little boy was nowhere in sight.

Chanyeol, who was several meters away from him had heard Baekhyun’s yell and turned around, eyes wide.

"I thought you were watching over him?" He called back, panic clear on his features.

Now, the problem was that Baekhyun had thought that Chanyeol was watching over Minjun. Turns out, none of them were.  _ Fuck _ .

Up till now, they’d made it about three quarters around the lake without catching sight of Minjun’s mom. While Chanyeol had wandered off to examine a path that left the lake, Baekhyun had spotted an old lady sitting on a bench about 50 metres away from the one where they’d rested for a few minutes because Minjun was starting to feel rather exhausted.

"No, I was talking to that old lady!" Baekhyun yelled back. Just a few minutes ago, he’d called out to Chanyeol to tell him that he’d talk to the lady on the bench while Chanyeol looked over the little boy. When Chanyeol had turned around and approached him, at least Baekhyun had assumed that he was doing that, he’d left to talk to the old woman.

Apparently, Chanyeol had walked right past them though to check the path on the other side and hadn’t heard Baekhyun at all.

"Fuck, I thought you were waiting with him at the bench while I quickly walked down that path.” Chanyeol stopped in front of Baekhyun, looking just as panicked as Baekhyun felt.

"Oh god, how the fuck do we lose an already lost child? We're useless."

There was no fucking way they could ever tell someone about this. Also, they just really had to find Minjun. While Baekhyun tried to calm his rapid heartbeat, Chanyeol attempted to search for a solution.

"Okay, we shouldn't panic, he can't be far." The taller man craned his head, eyes scanning the area surrounding them. However, there was no hint of the little boy.

Looking back at Baekhyun, they both knew there was only one way to hopefully solve this. "Let's split up."

Several minutes passed with no sign of the little boy. As agreed upon, Chanyeol and Baekhyun had split up, both taking different directions. While Chanyeol headed along the path around the lake which they hadn’t walked yet, Baekhyun was supposed to check the route they’d already walked. With every passing minutes, his hopes of finding Minjun shrank and he wished he’d exchanged phone numbers with Chanyeol. What if the other had already found him and Baekhyun was worrying over nothing at all? Only now he realized that it would probably have been smart if they exchanged phone numbers. They were a mess.

Just when Baekhyun was about to give up and head back to meet up with Chanyeol again, his ears picked up a noise.

Following the sound, he couldn’t quite identify, Baekhyun turned around a corner and stopped in his tracks.

There Minjun was, surrounded by a small flock of pigeons that he was feeding with something that looked like a piece of bread that he must have found lying around.

A wave of relief crashed into Baekhyun and it was then that he realized that it was certainly no surprise that Minjun had gotten lost in the first place.

The little boy had spotted Baekhyun too, judging by the happy smile directed at Baekhyun as he walked closer.

“Baekhyun hyung, look at all the pigeons!”

Even though Baekhyun was incredibly happy to have found him again, he couldn’t suppress the accusative undertone in his voice as he knelt down in front of the little boy. "Minjun, what were you thinking? You can't just run away like that again! Don't you want to find your mom with us?"

"But the pigeons..." Minjun pouted but then made no further complaints when Baekhyun took his head to take him back to where Chanyeol was hopefully waiting for them.

From far away, Baekhyun could already witness the shift of Chanyeol’s expression as he watched Baekhyun and the little boy come closer. He’d returned to the spot where they’d split up just a minute ago as well, hoping that Baekhyun had been more lucky than him in finding the little boy.

When they finally reached him, Baekhyun was surprised when Chanyeol pulled him into a tight hug before picking up Minjun again. "Thank god, I was going crazy, holy shit. I was about to text you when I realized I obviously didn't have your number."

No shit, Sherlock. "Maybe we should exchange them in case of another emergency. Which I hope doesn't happen." Baekhyun suggested. Also, having Chanyeol’s number honestly didn’t sound too bad in itself.

With one hand, Chanyeol was still holding on to Minjun while the other hand swiped away imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Me neither, holy shit. That was definitely too much for my poor heart."

They both were looking at the little boy in Chanyeol’s arms that looked way too content with the whole situation somehow. On one hand, it was cute, on the other Baekhyun didn’t need another shocker like that so he stepped closer, making sure that Minjun was looking at him. "Hey, Minjun. Listen, you can't run away like this again, okay?" His voice was firm but he didn’t actually think he sounded mean or threatening as he spoke.

"Okay." Came the immediate reply and at least Minjun had the decency to look a little bashful.

"That explains how he and his mom got separated though." Baekhyun’s eyes met Chanyeol’s.

"True. However, I don't think we'll be finding her here anymore."

If he was being honest, Baekhyun didn’t believe in that anymore either.

"Me neither. Let's check the playground for a last time and if she's not there we should go to the closest police station. Maybe we should've done that right from the start."

"Maybe, but I don't think it was wrong of us to go here first." Chanyeol pointed out and Baekhyun knew he was right. He didn’t regret that he tried to find Minjun’s mom like this but they just had to admit that their chances of finding her like this were decreasing by the minute. Now, it was better to trust professionals.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just hope that we're lucky at the playground now." He agreed and together, they made their way back to the playground where they’d first started searching.

Of course, they weren’t lucky. After taking a look at the playground again, they didn’t waste any time heading to the closest police station that Chanyeol had found on his phone. There were two in the area but they decided to head to the one that was to the left because it was the way they’d initially come from and where Baekhyun had picked up Minjun.

The walk took only about ten minutes until they reached the station and they barely had to wait until a middle-aged police officer tended to them and started documenting how they found Minjun and what they knew about them.

"Minjun!"

Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked up from where they were signing a report when a young woman stormed towards them. They’d just finished telling the officers their story again when they heard hurried footsteps behind them.

"Mommy!"

Even without the little boy's cry of joy, there had been no doubt that this was his mother. The young woman that was rushing towards them had tears streaming down her cheeks but the look in her eyes was pure happiness and relief. Baekhyun couldn’t blame her.

"Minjun, oh god, I'm so glad that I have you back! My little boy- you don't even know how scared I was. Oh god, my baby.." The young woman pulled the little boy into her arms, her tears soaking his shirt. It took approximately 0.3 seconds for Minjun to tear up as well.

"Mommy, I was looking at the pigeons. And then you weren't there anymore." He sobbed against his mom’s hair. Baekhyun’s face couldn’t decide if he wanted to break out into tears or a huge grin.

Instead of doing either, Baekhyun decided to  _ tactfully _ interrupt the reunion scene in front of him. "He really likes pigeons..."

Next to him, Chanyeol couldn’t stifle his laughter which in turn made the young woman look up, her mascara still wet on her cheeks. She still looked very pretty though, Baekhyun thought.

"You must be the two young men that brought him here! I was at a different police station and they told me someone turned up here with a little boy that suited my description of Minjun. I can't thank you enough, I was so scared. How can I repay you for bringing be my baby?" Minjun’s mother had straightened up a little, surprisingly looking a lot more composed than she had just a minute ago. Baekhyun sometimes just had mad respect for mothers, he didn’t know how they did their thing.

It took him a second to realize that he was probably supposed to answer her. "It's alright, don't worry. It was the only right thing to do. Also, he's a very sweet boy. But you should watch out for pigeons, they really do distract him." Baekhyun sent her a smile. In the end, he was just glad that they’d managed to get Minjun back to his mom, even with a few minor incidents.

Minjun’s mom began to look distressed again though. "I know, I know... I blame myself for being careless. I was rummaging through my bag because I was looking for the car keys and when I looked up again, he was nowhere to be seen. I immediately started searching for him and asked all the other parents at the playground, but no one had seen him. You know, we don't usually visit that playground, we live in another part of the city... I'm just so glad to have him back. I was so worried, there were so many things that could've-" her voice broke off and she sobbed again. Baekhyun just wanted to hug her and Chanyeol looked pretty much like a kicked puppy, too. It just hurt to see her crying but they both knew that she’d be okay again now that she got her son back.

"It's alright, madam. You have him back now and I'm sure he won't run away anymore, right Minjun?" Chanyeol grinned at the little boy that had stopped crying by now. He was watching his mother with big eyes before patting her hair with his tiny hand softly.

"Baekhyun hyung and Chanyeol hyung helped me, mommy. They're my friends now."

Baekhyun kind of just wanted to stuff his fist into his own mouth and scream. Why did Minjun have to be so cute? Maybe kids weren’t so bad after all. At least not  _ all  _ of them.

The voice of Minjun’s mom pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I know, baby, I know. I love you so much." "Really, how can I repay you? I owe you so much, I can't put it into words." She was looking at the two of them again but both Chanyeol and Baekhyun knew that just knowing they were the ones to reunite them again was already enough.

With a big smile, Baekhyun just shook his head, his words directed at Minjun’s mother but his eyes were on the little boy.

"It's really alright. We're just glad that you have your little boy back."

By the time they left the police station, it was getting dark outside already. During the whole search, he hadn’t noticed how late it had been getting but Baekhyun didn’t feel like he’d wasted any time at all. Minjun’s mother had eventually given up insisting to pay them for helping her out and they’d managed to convince her that just their happy faces were enough for the two of them.

Now, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were standing at the bus station where they’d met for the first time just a few hours ago and Baekhyun didn’t feel like he only met the other man that same day.

"Well, that was a ride..." Baekhyun’s words broke through the silence. If Baekhyun wasn’t entirely mistaken, neither Chanyeol nor him wanted to part just yet. There was a weird feeling between them and he just couldn’t quite place it.

Instantly, Chanyeol nodded, a small smirk on his lips as he spoke."You don't say... But it felt so good when his mom had him back again. Sometimes it's easy to forget how good helping people can feel like."

Baekhyun couldn’t deny that. "True.” He agreed. Before he could stop himself, the next words just tumbled from his lips. “I think I need a coffee now, that was draining." Even though he knew it was a totally acceptable question that could be seen as something entirely platonic, Baekhyun was nervous. Because there was the slight chance that maybe Chanyeol understood that he didn’t mean it in a platonic way at all.

Their eyes met for a short moment and there was no hesitation in Chanyeol’s voice when he said, "Me too."

A large grin began to spread on Baekhyun’s face that he somehow couldn’t shake off, and truthfully, he kind of didn’t want to.

"Do you want to go with me? I know a nice café around the corner." He pointed into the direction where they’d just come from. The café was cute and cosy, just perfect to catch a table for two and have a nice chat and maybe exchange a few badly chosen pick-up lines.

Taking a step into the direction, Chanyeol looked down at Baekhyun with a smile. "Sure that sounds good. Maybe you can give me your number then. Not for the purpose of saving little children, but because I'd like to have it."

And if Baekhyun was being honest, there was no thing he’d rather do than giving Chanyeol his number right then. Well, besides having that coffee maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> I would appreciate comments and Kudos or any kind of feedback a lot! You can find a moodboard for the fic [here](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper/status/1104434993139515392). If you're interested in my WIPs and spoilers for my fics, you can also follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SehunSemper). Thank you for reading! <3


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